Toddler dies after plastic surgery at Greater Noida hospital; FIR against doctors, nurses

GREATER NOIDA: Police said on Wednesday that they have registered a case for death by negligence against "doctors and nursing staff" of Yatharth Hospital in Greater Noida after an 18-month-old girl died following a plastic surgery.
The hospital said the child died of a cardiac arrest and an investigation is on.
Asked why the case didn't go to the district health department, which normally gives a go-ahead for FIRs to be registered against doctors for negligence, a senior police officer said the girl's father "had directly reached out to the cops" and the "investigation has to go on".
Satendra Yadav said in his complaint, filed on Tuesday, that he took his daughter to the hospital on December 18 after she got injured on her nose while playing.
"After the treatment for the injury, the doctors advised us to go for plastic surgery as the injury would leave a scar on her face. We agreed, and the surgery was scheduled for December 19 afternoon," the complaint read.
According to Yadav, a resident of the city, the girl was wheeled into the paediatric ICU after the surgery around 4.30pm. "I I noticed that my daughter wasn't responding well. I asked the doctors but they said she is doing okay. Between 4.30pm and 8.15pm, we kept alerting the staff that our daughter wasn't responsive. We also noticed that the machine (which shows vitals) wasn't functioning. The nurses changed the machines, but still couldn't get a reading," the father alleged.
He said the nursing staff didn't call doctors despite being asked to.
"At night, we noticed that our daughter's lips were turning dark. It was then that the nursing staff called the doctors. She was given CPR and other medical attention, but around 9.30 pm, she was declared dead," Yadav's complaint said.
The police officer cited above said that the exact cause of death wasn't clear from the post-mortem report. "We have preserved viscera for further examination," he said.
The FIR registered at the Beta-2 police station does not name any specific doctor or nurse. The accused have been booked under sections 304A (death due to negligence) and 270 (whoever malignantly does any act which is likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life) of the IPC.
"The case is under investigation. We are questioning the staff. There are no arrests so far but action will be taken based on the investigation," said Abhishek Verma, DCP, Greater Noida.
Hospital officials said they had followed procedure. "All preliminary tests were done by the hospital before conducting the surgery on the child as she was found healthy and fit for the same. The child was responsive after the surgery and was given back in care of the mother. Later, the baby had a sudden cardiac arrest from which she could not be resuscitated by the doctors. Further matters are pending investigation," said Dr Sunil Balyan, chief medical superintendent, Yatharth Hospitals.